• CRIME: Mexico should pursue illegal trade of totoaba (a fish whose bladder is highly sought after in China’s black market) as organized crime and not simply by providing fishermen in the Gulf of California with monetary assistance hoping they will stop, a leading environmental group says.
• TRADE: According to Earth League International (ELI), a group that has tracked illicit networks, trade of totoaba bladders is thriving this year. The use of gillnets to fish for totoaba is the main reason behind the disappearance of the vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise.
• BRIBES: “The Government of Mexico has to understand that these traffickers are experienced people, they are not boy scouts. They have been doing this for years. They control all ports, airports and can virtually bribe anyone they want”, said Andrea Crosta, executive director of ELI.
• GREED: Per some estimates, the price of one kilogram of totoaba bladder in China’s black market can reach USD 46,000 a kilogram. Due to the intensive fishing of totoaba, the number of vaquitas in the Upper Gulf of California is dwindling, with experts saying there are less than 10 remaining.
